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Club Announcements:
The Rotary Club of North Jackson is suspending in-person meetings effective December 8, 2020, because of the continuing spread of COVID-19 and the guidance of State's Public Health leaders. The meetings will be conducted via Zoom.
Zoom meeting invites with the link and password will be sent to all club members on Mondays. The Zoom meetings will continue to start at noon on Tuesdays with club member fellowship with the meeting starting at 12:15 p.m. If you have any issues connecting to the Zoom meeting, please email Past President Greg Campbell at gregcampbell2@comcast.net.
We reserve the first 15 minutes for fellowship and give our speakers nearly 30 minutes for their presentations.
Birthdays and Anniversaries.
Birthdays
Erik Hearon Dec. 13
Luther Munford Dec. 14
Wedding Anniversaries:
Tommy & Marsha James Dec. 16
Membership Anniversaries
Eric Bragg 5 years, Dec. 8
Collier Graham 2 years, Dec. 11
Neelam Goel 2 years, Dec. 11
Prayer.
Dear God, in the chill of winter, we gather to enjoy the warmth of our friendship in Rotary, and the spiritual warmth of your love and concern for us. We are awed by every evidence of your interest in us and your responses of help in our times of special need. As we embrace each other in fellowship, in our lighthearted moments, and in serious involvements, we pray also for your enriching presence in all we do.
Let our conversations be uplifting, and our concern for others genuine. Thank you for all favors received from your hand. Amen.
Members of the Rotary Club of North Jackson and of the Rotaract Club of Millsaps College “Rang the Bell” for the Salvation Army at the Corner Market store at 1200 East Northside Drive on December 1-3, 2020 This was the 12th year that the Rotary Club has done this activity that provides funds for the Salvation Army to support needy persons in the Jackson Area. Rotary Club Past President Robert Whitley has chaired the activity since it was founded. The following photos are from the activity. We thank the Rotarians and Rotaracters for their effort this year.
Ray Harrigill, President, and Founder of Sunray Companies spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson during its December 1, 2020 meeting. Harrigill spoke on the challenges during the pandemic as a business owner. We thank Mr. Harrigill for his presentation to our club. He showed us how an entrepreneur can successfully deal with adversity.
The Sunray Companies is a full-service hospitality, retail, and real estate development company co-founded in 1996 by Ray and Monica Harrigill. Based in Madison, Mississippi, The Sunray Companies operates best-in-class brands including Hampton Inn & Suites, Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Palm Beach Tan, Massage Envy, and Bumpers Drive-In.
Shown from left, Suman Das, club Vice President; Don Roberts, club Exec. Secretary/Treasurer; Harrigill; Monica Harrigill, Managing Member & Co-Founder Sunray; Wyatt Emmerich, club member, and Neelam Goel, club Foundations Chair.
The Rotaract Club of Millsaps College that is sponsored by the Rotary Club of North Jackson recently collected $1,300 for Polio Plus. Members of the club presented their check during a recent Rotary Club meeting.
Shown from left, back row: Dr. Nelson Atehortua, District 6820 Polio Plus Chair and club member; Dhruv Patel, Rotaract Club Vice-President; Spencer Wallace, Rotaract Club President and Lee Carney, Rotary Club President. Front row: Chris Bruni, Rotaract club member; Makayla Pfarr, Rotaract club member; Taylor Smith, Rotaract club member and Dr. Suman Das, Rotary Club Polio Plus Chair and Vice-President.
Shown from left: Dr. Nelson Atehortua, Rotary District 6820 Polio Plus Chair, Spencer Wallace, Rotaract Club of Millsaps College President presenting the check, and Dr. Suman Das, Rotary Club of North Jackson Polio Plus Chair and Vice-President.
Michael “Mike” Carraway, a CPA and partner with GranthamPoole CPAs spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson about the 2020 Cares Act (the Act) at the club’s November 24, 2020 meeting. Carraway is a Summa Cum Laude Graduate of the University of Mississippi with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Accountancy. He focused his talk on the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) authorized by that Act. Per Carraway, the Act initially authorized the issuance of $349 billion in PPP loans to small and businesses with 500 or fewer employees. The authorization was subsequently increased. He said that as of April 15, 1.7 million loans were made and that as of August 8, 5.2 million loans were made totaling $525 Billion. Currently, the authorization is $659 billion with some of the funds unallocated. If certain rules are followed, the loans are interest-free and do not need to be repaid.
The purpose of the PPP was and is to keep people employed and to keep money in the financial system. He gave the example of a client who said that he had told his receptionist to stay at home. The client asked if he could continue paying the receptionist with PPP funds. Carraway responded affirmatively saying that paying the receptionist was consistent with the spirit and rules of the PPP.
Carraway further elaborated that Congress still has work to do with PPP since forgiving a loan creates income under existing tax law. For that reason, Congress needs to fix the legislation so that forgiven PPP loans do not create income. That still has to happen.
We thank Carraway for his presentation and for his service to the businesses of Mississippi. The complete meeting including his presentation can be viewed by clicking on the following link https://vimeo.com/483931050.
Thoracic Surgeon Dr. Galen Ohnmacht, of the Mississippi Baptist Medical Center, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson about Lung Cancer at the club's November 17 meeting. Dr. Ohnmacht recently moved from Maryland to Jackson. He commented that he got tired of digging out of the snow in winter and was looking forward to a winter in Mississippi. Dr. Ohmacht completed medical school at the University of Texas Medical School in Houston and his residency at Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minnesota.
Dr. Ohmacht's bottom line was that if you don't want lung cancer, don't smoke. He said that people aged 55- 77 years in age who have 30 pack-years or more of smoking should have lung cancer screening. He defined a pack-year as the length of time smoked times the number of packs of cigarettes smoked daily. Thus 30 pack-years for a two-pack a day smoker would be 15 years. He described the screening process as a non-invasive low dose CT scan.
Per Dr. Ohnmacht, Lung Cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., accounting for 25% of U.S. Cancer deaths. More people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancer combined. In 2020, medical experts estimate that there will be 229,000 new cases and 136,000 deaths from lung cancer. The number of deaths is decreasing because of fewer people smoking and early detection. In Mississippi, the estimated number of new lung cancer cases in 2020 is 2500. Risk factors associated with lung cancer are smoking, exposure to secondhand smoke, asbestos, diesel exhaust, coal products, arsenic, vinyl chloride, radon, radiation (especially radiation therapy to the chest), air pollution, and a family history of lung cancer. He said that lung cancer can be very advanced by the time people have symptoms.
The stages of lung cancer are
Stage I - cancer remains in the primary organ
Stage II - cancer is large and may or may not have spread to the lymph nodes and other structures
Stage III - cancer has spread to the lymph nodes and other structures
Stage IV - cancer has spread to other areas of the body
There are several imaging tests that can be used to screen for lung cancer, chest X-Ray, Computerized Tomography (CT) scan, and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scan.
The treatment for lung cancer depends on the subtype, stage, molecular characteristics, patient co-morbidities, and other factors in combination or alone. Possible treatments include:
surgery
radiation therapy
chemotherapy
targeted therapy
immunotherapy
Dr. Ohnmacht listed the following preventative steps:
don't smoke
avoid secondhand smoke
avoid radon exposure
avoid exposure to known cancer-causing agents in the workplace
eat a healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegetables
We thank Dr. Ohnmacht for his informative presentation and for his moving to Jackson. He is shown following his presentation in the following photo.
Shown in the photo from the left are Club Member Dr. Nelson Atehortua, Dr. Ohnmacht, Baptist System Community Outreach and Special Events Coordinator Caitlin Hayden, and Club President Lee Carney. The entire meeting, including Dr. Ohnmacht's presentation, can be seen at the following website: https://vimeo.com/481056960.
Major General J. Durr Boyles, Adjutant General, Mississippi National Guard, spoke to the Rotary Club of North Jackson at the club's November 10, 2020, meeting in observance of Veterans Day. MG Boyles is an Eagle Scout and a graduate of Mississippi State University in Biological Engineering and of the United States Army War College with an MSS in Strategic Studies. In his civilian life, he is president of Boyles Moak and Stone, Inc. dba Boyles Moak a regional independent insurance agency located in Ridgeland, Mississippi. MG Boyles has been in the MS National Guard since May 1982 and has been Adjutant General since Sept. 2016.
The subject of Boyles' presentation was the Mississippi National Guard, its role, its mission, and its deployments. MG Boyles, himself, has been deployed to Kosovo and Afganistan. He (right) is shown with club member MG (Ret.) Erik Hearon, who introduced him, and club president Lee Carney in the following photo. We thank him for his service to our state and our country and for his presentation.
